“They can have millions of young,” explained the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center‘s Darrick Sparks. “If they’re old enough, they will start to have little tufts on their claws, that’s how they got their name the ‘mitten crab.'”

And Sparks says the crabs very aggressive. “They can get into intakes, there are so many of them they can clog them,” he said.

He says if you see one, call environmental officials so researchers can gather information about where these crabs have been found.

Are you worried about these crabby invaders? Sound off below in our comments section.

Years ago, the Hudson was polluted with PCBs by General Electric when they had a site upriver at one of the main cities (Poughkeepsie? I’m not certain which)–cancer-causing chemicals. Even if PCBs are not detectable at high levels in the water, they’ve settled into the mud. They’ll take anywhere between 50 years and a century to eventually filter down through the muddy bottom, then out of the river system.

If these crabs are benthic (bottom-dwelling), then they’ll be ingesting food material that may be PCB-tainted. It will render the crabs toxic for human consumption, as a result.

Um…how about fleshing out the article a little, please? How are the crabs harmful? How will we come to ‘see’ a mitten crab? Do you mean if we see being sold on the street? If we fished it out of the Hudson? Huh???

Stop buy cheap stuff from China than. As usual, all mouth, no action. How’s that t-shirt (made in China) you’re wearing doing? How’s that iPhone? And that lousy illegal immigrant PC (made in China) you’re using to post? They’re all brought in on ships with ballast tanks. T ard.